An ALBUM is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item
on CD , record , audio tape or another medium. Albums of recorded
music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of
individual 78rpm records , then from 1948 as vinyl LP records played
at 33 1⁄3 rpm . Vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the
21st-century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc (CD) and
MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s
through to the 1990s alongside vinyl.

An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in
a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The time
frame for completely recording an album varies between a few hours to
several years. This process usually requires several takes with
different parts recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed "
together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are
termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb
sound, eliminating reverberation , so as to assist in mixing different
takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms",
allow for reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. The majority
of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects,
voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology , musicians
can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening
to the other parts using headphones ; with each part recorded as a
separate track .

Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional
information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, and lyrics
or librettos . Historically, the term "album" was applied to a
collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage
the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music
from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related
78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums (one side of a 78 rpm
record could hold only about 3.5 minutes of sound). When long-playing
records were introduced, a collection of pieces on a single record was
called an album; the word was extended to other recording media such
as compact disc ,
MiniDisc ,
Compact audio cassette , and digital
albums as they were introduced.

The
LP record (long play), or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl
record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records
in 1948. It was adopted by the record industry as a standard format
for the "album". Apart from relatively minor refinements and the
important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has
remained the standard format for vinyl albums. The term "album" had
been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had
been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later,
collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums.
When long-playing records were introduced, a collection of pieces on
a single record was called an album; the word was extended to other
recording media such as compact disc ,
MiniDisc , Compact audio
cassette , and digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of a
trend of shifting sales in the music industry , some commenters have
declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the
album .

LENGTH

While an album may contain as many or as few tracks as required, the
criteria for the
UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an
"album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25
minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as "mini-albums "
or EPs . Albums such as _
Tubular Bells _, _Amarok _, _Hergest Ridge _
by
Mike Oldfield , and Yes 's _Close to the Edge _, include fewer than
four tracks. There are no formal rules against artists such as Pinhead
Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as
"albums".

If an album becomes too long to fit onto a single vinyl record or CD,
it may be released as a double album where two vinyl LPs or compact
discs are packaged together in a single case, or a triple album
containing three LPs or compact discs. Recording artists who have an
extensive back catalogue may re-release several CDs in one single box
with a unified design, often containing one or more albums (in this
scenario, these releases can sometimes be referred to as a "two (or
three)-fer"), or a compilation of previously unreleased recordings.
These are known as box sets . Some musical artists have also released
more than three compact discs or LP records of new recordings at once,
in the form of boxed sets, although in that case the work is still
usually considered to be an album.

TRACKS

Material (music or sounds) is stored on an album in sections termed
tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track (often simply referred
to as a track) is an individual song or instrumental recording. The
term is particularly associated with popular music where separate
tracks are known as album tracks; the term is also used for other
formats such as EPs and singles . When vinyl records were the primary
medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from
the grooves and many album covers or sleeves included numbers for the
tracks on each side. On a compact disc the track number is indexed so
that a player can jump straight to the start of any track. On digital
music stores such as iTunes the term song is often used
interchangeably with track regardless of whether there is any vocal
content. Bonus tracks

A bonus track (also known as a bonus cut or bonus) is a piece of
music which has been included as an extra. This may be done as a
marketing promotion, or for other reasons. It is not uncommon to
include singles as bonus tracks on re-issues of old albums, where
those tracks weren't originally included. Online music stores allow
buyers to create their own albums by selecting songs themselves; bonus
tracks may be included if a customer buys a whole album rather than
just one or two songs from the artist. The song is not necessarily
free nor is it available as a stand-alone download, adding also to the
incentive to buy the complete album. In contrast to hidden tracks ,
bonus tracks are included on track listings and usually do not have a
gap of silence between other album tracks.

RECORDING

The contents of the album are usually recorded in a studio or live in
concert, though may be recorded in other locations, such as at home
(as with JJ Cale's
Okie , Beck's
Odelay , David Gray's White Ladder
, and others), in the field - as with early
Blues recordings, in
prison, or with a mobile recording unit such as the Rolling Stones
Mobile Studio .

Although recording in a studio can be done using large multi-track
systems with many overdubs and different takes of the same instrument,
some recordings may be done "live" in order to reproduce the feel and
energy of a live performance. Basic parts such as drums and rhythm
guitar may be recorded live, with overdubs such as solos and vocals
recorded later. Studio recordings may be mixed and mastered at
different facilities.

Two vinyl records with inner and outer album sleeves Main
article:
LP record

Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one-half of the
album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as
commercial singles , they were conventionally placed in particular
positions on the album. A common configuration was to have the album
led off by the second and third singles, followed by a ballad. The
_first_ single would lead off side 2. In the past many singles (such
as the
Beatles ' "
Hey Jude " and
Bob Dylan 's "Positively 4th Street
") did not appear on albums, but others (such as the Beatles' "Come
Together " and Dylan's "
Like a Rolling Stone ") formed part of an
album released concurrently. Today, many commercial albums of music
tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to
radio, TV or the Internet as a way of promoting the album. Albums
have also been issued that are compilations of older tracks not
originally released together, such as singles not originally found on
albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished "demo" recordings.

Album sets of the past were sequenced for record changers . In the
case of a two-record set, for example, sides 1 and 4 would be stamped
on one record, and sides 2 and 3 on the other. The user would stack
the two records onto the spindle of an automatic record changer, with
side 1 on the bottom and side 2 (on the other record) on top. Side 1
would automatically drop onto the turntable and be played. When
finished, the tone arm's position would trigger a mechanism which
moved the arm out of the way, dropped the record with side 2, and
played it. When both records had been played, the user would pick up
the stack, turn it over, and put them back on the spindle—sides 3
and 4 would then play in sequence.
Record changers were used for many
years of the LP era, but eventually fell out of use.

8-track tape (formally Stereo 8: commonly known as the eight-track
cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track) is a magnetic tape
sound recording technology popular in the United States from the
mid-1960s to the late 1970s when the
Compact Cassette format took
over. The format is regarded as an obsolete technology, and was
relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada and Australia.

Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by
Bill Lear of Lear
Jet Corporation, along with
Ampex ,
Ford Motor Company , General
Motors ,
Motorola , and
RCA Victor Records (RCA). It was a further
development of the similar
Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge created by
Earl "Madman" Muntz . A later quadraphonic version of the format was
announced by RCA in April 1970 and first known as Quad-8, then later
changed to just Q8.

COMPACT CASSETTE

A blank compact cassette tape and case Main article: Compact
Cassette

The
Compact Cassette was a popular medium for distributing
pre-recorded music in the late 1970s through to the 1990s. The very
first "Compact Cassette" was introduced by
Philips in August 1963 in
the form of a prototype. Compact Cassettes became especially popular
during the 1980s after the advent of the Sony
Walkman , which allowed
the person to control what they listened to. The
Walkman was
convenient because of its size, the device could fit in most pockets
and often came equipped with a clip for belts or pants. Compact
cassettes also saw the creation of mixtapes , which are tapes
containing a compilation of songs created by any average listener of
music. The songs on a mixtape generally relate to one another in some
way, whether it be a conceptual theme or an overall sound. The
compact cassette used double-sided magnetic tape to distribute music
for commercial sale. The music is recorded on both the "A" and "B"
side of the tape, with cassette being "turned" to play the other side
of the album. Compact Cassettes were also a popular way for musicians
to record "Demos " or "Demo Tapes" of their music to distribute to
various record labels, in the hopes of acquiring a recording contract
. The sales of Compact Cassettes eventually began to decline in the
1990s, after the release and distribution Compact Discs . After the
introduction of Compact discs, the term "Mixtape" began to apply to
any personal compilation of songs on any given format. Recently there
has been a revival of Compact Cassettes by independent record labels
and DIY musicians who prefer the format because of its difficulty to
share over the internet .

The compact disc format replaced both the vinyl record and the
cassette as the standard for the commercial mass-market distribution
of physical music albums. After the introduction of music downloading
and
MP3 players such as the iPod , US album sales dropped 54.6% from
2001 to 2009. The CD is a digital data storage device which permits
digital recording technology to be used to record and play-back the
recorded music.

Most recently, the
MP3 audio format has matured, revolutionizing the
concept of digital storage. Early
MP3 albums were basically CD-rips
created by early CD-ripping software, and sometimes real-time rips
from cassettes and vinyl.

Most albums are studio albums - that is, they are recorded in a
recording studio with equipment meant to give those overseeing the
recording as much control as possible over the sound of the album.
They minimize external noises and reverberations and have highly
sensitive microphones and sound mixing equipment. In some studios,
each member of a band records their part in separate rooms (or even at
separate times, while listening to the other parts of the track with
headphones to keep the timing right).

LIVE

"Live album" redirects here. For other uses, see Live album
(other) .

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An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in
a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The
recording process may occur within a few hours or may take several
years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts
recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed " together. Recordings
that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even
when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating
reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes; other
locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", allow for
reverberation, which creates a "live" sound.

Concert or stage performances are recorded using remote recording
techniques. Live albums may be recorded at a single concert , or
combine recordings made at multiple concerts. They may include
applause and other noise from the audience, comments by the performers
between pieces, improvisation, and so on. They may use multitrack
recording direct from the stage sound system (rather than microphones
placed among the audience), and can employ additional manipulation and
effects during post-production to enhance the quality of the
recording. Comedy albums , in particular, are most often recorded live
because the audience reaction is part of the cue that the comedian is
succeeding.

The best-selling live album worldwide is
Garth Brooks ' _Double Live
_, having sold in excess of 21 million copies as of November 2006. In
_Rolling Stone\'s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time _ 18 albums were
live albums.

A SOLO ALBUM, in popular music , is an album recorded by a current or
former member of a rock group which is released under that artist's
name only, even though some or all other band members may be involved.
The solo album appeared as early as the late 1940s. A 1947 _Billboard
_ magazine article heralded "
Margaret Whiting huddling with Capitol
execs over her first solo album on which she will be backed by Frank
De Vol ". There is no formal definition setting forth the amount of
participation a band member can solicit from other members of his
band, and still have the album referred to as a solo album. One
reviewer wrote that
Ringo Starr 's third venture, _Ringo _,
"echnically... wasn't a solo album because all four
Beatles appeared
on it". Three of the four members of the
Beatles released solo albums
while the group was officially still together.

A performer may record a solo album for a number of reasons. A solo
performer working with other members will typically have full creative
control of the band, be able to hire and fire accompanists, and get
the majority of the proceeds. The performer may be able to produce
songs that differ widely from the sound of the band with which the
performer has been associated, or that the group as a whole chose not
to include in its own albums.
Graham Nash , of
The Hollies described
his experience in developing a solo album as follows: "The thing that
I go through that results in a solo album is an interesting process of
collecting songs that can't be done, for whatever reason, by a lot of
people". A solo album may also represent the departure of the
performer from the group.

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A tribute or cover album is a collection of cover versions of songs
or instrumental compositions. Its concept may involve various artists
covering the songs of a single artist, genre or period, a single
artist covering the songs of various artists or a single artist, genre
or period, or any variation of an album of cover songs which is
marketed as a "tribute".

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